Source: Earthisland.orgBy Kimberley DelfinoCalifornia is a great example for how to protect threatened species. Forty years ago tomorrow — on December 28, 1973 — President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) into law. This landmark legislation has defined America’s commitment to wildlife conservation ever since. The ESA and other bedrock environmental laws such as the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts affirm for all Americans that we are a nation dedicated to conserving our natural heritage for future generations — through our national parks and refuges, through clean air and water, and by protecting our wildlife.In the four decades since the ESA’s passage, more than 1,200 plants and animals in the United States have put been under the law’s protection. The act has been essential to a range of conservation success stories. The brown pelican, the American alligator, and the grizzly bear — along with our national symbol, the bald eagle — have all experienced amazing comebacks thanks to the ESA. My home state, California, offers an inspiring example of the ESA in action. The Golden State may be the most populous in the nation — a place more often associated with freeways and traffic jams than with wildlife roaming the forests and deserts — but California is also the location of some of the ESA’s greatest successes. Some of the species that have been protected by the ESA call California home, including the El Segundo blue butterfly and the southern sea otter which are found only in California’s Central Coast and Southern regions, while the humpback whale, green sea turtle, peregrine falcon and bald eagle have ranges across California and its coastline. Such success stories prove that we can protect imperiled species and improve California’s economy and infrastructure at the same time. And they also demonstrate that when we work together to protect our nation’s wildlife and public lands, we reap numerous benefits — tangible and intangible — in the process. People travel from all across the United States and from around the world to visit California’s majestic parks and wildlife refuges — Yosemite, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, and San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge. Our state’s iconic plants and animals are legendary — towering redwoods, spawning salmon, California condors and desert tortoises.

In California, we’ve proven that we can safeguard endangered plants and animals while simultaneously offering benefits to landowners. More....

Source: Seattletimes.comBy John MillerA federal judge Friday allowed a wolf- and coyote-shooting derby to proceed on public land in Idaho this weekend, ruling its organizers aren’t required to get a special permit from the U.S. Forest Service. U.S. District Magistrate Judge Candy Wagahoff Dale issued the ruling in Boise hours after a morning hearing. WildEarth Guardians and other environmental groups had sought to stop the derby, arguing the Forest Service was ignoring its own rules that require permits for competitive events. The agency, meanwhile, countered no permit was needed, concluding while hunting would take place in the forest on Saturday and Sunday, the competitive portion of the event — where judges determine the $1,000 prize winner for the biggest wolf killed — would take place on private land. Dale decided derby promoters were encouraging use of the forest for a lawful activity. “The derby hunt is not like a footrace or ski race, where organizers would require the use of a loop or track for all participants to race upon,” she wrote, of events that might require such permits. “Rather, hunters will be dispersed throughout the forest, hunting at their own pace and in their own preferred territory, and not in a prescribed location within a designated perimeter.” Steve Alder, an organizer of Idaho’s derby, said dozens of people had already arrived in Salmon, Idaho, to participate. He was elated following the decision. “We won,” Alder said. “You’ve got a lot of people who have driven from far distances to Salmon, today. A lot of motels have a lot of occupants; a lot of money has been expended for this event. It’s good for Salmon, but I don’t want to send them packing home.”Every year, predator derbies are staged across the West and much of the rest of the country, where hunters compete to bag the most coyote, fox and other animals. More....

Source: Punemirror.INBy Priyam BaggaThe stray dog menace in Pune has so far been pitched purely as a civic issue, raising personal security and health concerns. But this growing band of predators (as the dogs are now being labelled) has wildlife experts worried, given the threat they have begun to pose to the indigenous wildlife population in and around the city, throwing Forest Department officials, animal rights activists and conservationists into a debate on how to handle the situation.

The impact of the growing strays is being felt in wildlife reserves of Nannaj (Solapur), Nagzira (Nagpur), Supe (Ahmednagar), Bhimashankar (Pune district) and Navegaon (Vidarbha region).“Stray dogs are preying on some critically endangered species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) such as Great Indian Bustards,” informed Anuj Khare, honorary wildlife warden, Pune and member of State Wildlife Advisory Board.

The dogs chase the birds during their breeding season (when the males display themselves with their black breast band) wreaking havoc on their procreation, he added. Besides the Great Indian Bustard, strays have even managed to threaten wolves, foxes and hares in the region.

The abandoned domestic dogs and other strays have even begun to replace the local predators. “They have become an additional set of predators for the indigenous wildlife to contend with.

The indigenous predators of reserved areas have to be restored to maintain a natural balance,” noted Manoj Oswal, animal welfare officer, Animal Welfare Board of India. “In the Panchvati area of Pune these dogs chase and attack peacocks. A similar problem is prevalent in the rest of the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats,” said noted environmentalist Madhav Gadgil.

Beyond the predatory factor, researchers see other issues. “Stray dogs are also carriers of various diseases which they pass on to the wild animals such as foxes and wolves,” informed Girish Arjun Punjabi, a wildlife researcher with Researchers for Wildlife Conservation.The conflict between strays and wildlife is a global phenomenon, evident in places where there is human settlements close to forests. The face-off between strays and grizzly bears in the US is an example. More....

Source: AU.news.yahoo.comBy Daniel MercerSome of WA's most endangered mammals will be moved to a predator-free sanctuary in the Mid West, courtesy of a landmark project to safeguard the State's ecological heritage. The area is being set up as part of a five-year, $5.3 million plan between Perth-based resources company Top Iron, which wants to mine iron ore in the region, and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy group. Located near Mt Gibson, about four hours drive north-east of Perth, the project will involve the construction of a 43km fence to "establish the largest fox and cat-free area" on mainland WA. The sanctuary will span 7800ha. Central to the plan's success will be the reintroduction of nine native animals that have long since vanished from the area, including bilbies, numbats, woylies and western barred bandicoots. In a report on the project, AWC said the Mt Gibson area had some of Australia's worst fauna extinction rates, with up to 50 per cent of mammals lost to predators. AWC chief executive Atticus Fleming said the initiative was groundbreaking and no other wildlife restoration project had increased the population of nine endangered types of mammals. Mr Fleming said the contribution of Top Iron's biggest shareholder Xiaonian Wu provided an example of the way foreign investment could help conservation. "This partnership sets a new benchmark for the mining industry in terms of reinvesting the benefits of the mining boom in on-ground conservation," he said. "Endangered mammals such as the numbat and the woylie have suffered massive population declines in the last decade. More....

Source: Ipsnews.netBy Cam McGrathAt a small pet shop in an upscale Cairo neighbourhood, puppies, kittens and sickly-looking parakeets occupy the cages behind the storefront window. But if you want more exciting and exotic animals – such as crocodiles or lion cubs – just ask behind the counter. Trade in wild animals is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), of which Egypt is a signatory. But decades of ineffective border controls and police indifference have made the country a major hub for the trafficking of wildlife. Conservationists suspect that criminal gangs have expanded their networks and stepped up shipments of protected and endangered species under cover of the political turmoil that has engulfed the region since the start of the Arab Spring. “Since the revolution in 2011, Egypt has fewer resources for enforcement, and traffickers have recognised this,” an environment ministry official told IPS. “The country is facing many serious political and economic problems, and checking shipments for wildlife is not a priority.”Cairo is less a destination than a transit point for animals trafficked from Africa to markets in Asia and the Arab Gulf states. Rare and endangered animals are concealed in air and sea shipments, or smuggled overland through the porous borders of Libya and Sudan. In recent years, authorities have seized satchels full of dying tortoises, rare birds stuffed into toilet paper rolls with their beaks tied shut, and a pair of dolphins floundering in a murky swimming pool. Foreign customs officers have also discovered baby chimpanzees drugged with cough syrup and crammed into crates shipped from Egypt. Many of the trafficked animals are kept in rented apartments in Cairo and Alexandria that act as showrooms for prospective buyers. Others fill the overcrowded and dirty cages of disreputable pet shops, or end up in the country’s growing number of private zoos. One licensed pet store in Cairo’s Zamalek district had its front end geared for the pampered pets of the district’s affluent residents, with imported pet foods, rhinestone studded dog collars, and colourful catnip toys. Further back the shop catered to more exotic tastes, with pens of juvenile crocodiles, caged fennec foxes, and a full-grown vulture that was eventually sold to a local businessman for 1,200 dollars. The pet store was shuttered last year after municipal authorities acted on residents’ complaints. More....

Source: Blogs.Calgaryherald.comBy Brendan TroyCAUTION – Some photos in this article are very graphic, portraying the disgusting and illegal actions of poachers. Viewer discretion is advised. Being a wildlife photographer, I’m outside a LOT. I also drive incredible distances more often than most sane people should. Whether I’m strolling in my neighbourhood, driving through the prairies or hiking in the mountains, death is a common observation. Whether it be a partially eaten duck along a winter water way, or a massive, meaty Mule Deer skeleton, evidence of death is everywhere. This is no surprise, but what I found on December 1st was something I thought I would never see, nor did I ever want to. On a beautiful winter afternoon, I was out to find my favourite cold weather subjects. While driving north-east of Calgary I found a total of 7 Snowy owls and was having a fantastic outing. 2 owls were almost pure white, portraying old age and a smart, distinguished owl. A fox laying in the middle of a famers field was startled by my car and took off towards the silhouette of our mighty mountains. The sun was shining and everything was going well.Driving east of Balzac I came upon a juvenile Bald Eagle along a fence line, quite a far distance from the road. I stopped my car, hopped out and got my camera ready as I wanted a closer shot. Unfortunately, I must have spooked the eagle and he took off across the flat landscape. I jumped back in my car and continued down the road when a large number of crows and magpies came in to view. A small section of fence line was full of corvids, probably over 30. I got closer and the birds moved down the road and away from the ditch. In the ditch was the reason for the eagle and all the crows. Scattered in the melting snow, like unwanted waste, were the remains of at least 5 deer. It took a moment to really clue in to what this was, but once it hit me I didn’t really know what to do. This was a poachers dumpsite. I have definitely heard of others stumbling open a poached animal. The sadness can be overwhelming and for some, can morph into extreme anger. To see a beautiful animal slaughtered and left to rot in a road side ditch is not what anyone thinks of when referring to a nice country drive, which I thought I was having. The deer were compressed into thawing balls of meat. After being stuffed and jammed into black garbage bags, the poacher felt it was best to toss the remains not even 4 feet from the side of the road, allowing others to find their ‘trophies.’ I got out of the car and approached the pile of carrion. Immediately I noticed two bucks with a distinct ‘V’ sawed into the top of their skulls. This was upsetting, but laying next to these carved up deer was a fully intact young buck. The deer would have been a 2 to 4 point buck, incredibly young, and killed a generation too soon. With these three bucks were 2 females. I say there were only 5 as I could only count 5 deer heads. There were parts of deer lying everywhere and there very well may have been more than 5 killed by this poacher. More....

Source: 7daysinDubai.comThe Wadi Wurayah National Park in Fujairah has been indefinitely closed to the public in an attempt to rehabilitate the site and its inhabitants, following littering, graffiti, destruction of resources and poaching by visitors. Wadi Wurayah is the first national park in the UAE and a wetland of international importance recognised by the Ramsar Convention. It was established under law no. 2 in 2009 and is the country’s first protected mountain, and one of the few permanent freshwater sources in the UAE. More than 500 species have been documented as living in the wadi - including more than 70 species of birds, dozens of reptiles and mammals, plus fish, amphibians, and plants - of which at least 72 species are considered new to science.Access to the site was shut yesterday by Crown Prince of Fujairah HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Sharqi. Calling for vigorous steps to conserve the habitat, he said: “As we move into the future, we must protect our natural heritage for the good of our people. “The park is a precious symbol of our respect for our past and our hopes for the future.” He directed Fujairah Municipality and Emirates Wildlife Society - World Wildlife Fund (EWS-WWF) to manage Wadi Wurayah National Park as “a regional model for nature conservation”. The site, home to the only waterfall in the UAE, will remain sealed off until infrastructure can be established to protect the wildlife and water resources. Litter, mostly from picnics, can be seen everywhere. Sixty per cent of the mammal species recorded in the area are of international or national concern, including the Arabian tahr, the mountain gazelle, the caracal lynx and Blanford’s fox. It is one of the world’s last three remaining strongholds of the Arabian tahr. The park is also a hotspot for dragonflies, and recent surveys show that 22 of the 30 known dragonfly and damselfly species in the UAE have been recorded at the site. A species called Urothemis thomasi, new to the UAE, was spotted earlier this year. According to International Union for Conservations of Nature data, it has not been recorded anywhere since 1957 and was thought to be extinct. Ida Tillisch, director general of EWS-WWF, told 7DAYS: “Some of these are species that no one in the world knew existed, and the wadi is the only home to some of them. The human footprint has been harsh. Unfortunately if it is not properly managed, it can take its toll on nature.” More....

Source: Theage.com.auBy Elizabeth FarrellyIs the dingo, that lovely loping thing, a totem or a pest? National icon or murderous carnivore? We remain divided. For many, a good dingo is still a dead dingo. Not here in the hood, where half my neighbours have dingoes as pets. (The other half, it seems, have pigs.) But in the country, where it matters, dingo-emotions run so high my rural friends warned me off writing this story. ''Anything else,'' they advised. ''Slow water. Good weeds. Moon planting. Water divining. Even feral cats. But not dingoes. The war on the dingo is a holy war.'' Well, show me a red rag. But provocation is not my purpose here. More interesting is the dingo's part in the astonishing and intricate minuet we humans conduct, enlisting nature's help in surviving nature.This is my riposte to those who think an urbanist should abjure les affaires agricoles. To me, cities or sheep-farming, it's the same dance; the same piquant paradox where nature is both our staunchest friend and our fiercest foe. And yes, we have survival largely sorted - except that tiny detail of ensuring nature also comes out OK. It's complicated, this us-and-nature thing. And the dingo is snared in the mess. After any fatal shark attack, calls for killing and culling follow like tailor after whiting. However progressive our thinking, however aware of the need for large predators, however conscious of our own hubris in floating out past the breakers and making like baitfish, instincts are still instincts. Tribes are tribes. They get one of ours, we reflexively want to take out two - or 2000 - of theirs. As for sharks, so for dingoes. Although dingoes threaten livelihoods, not lives, the culling impulse - part-safety, part-vengeance - persists. Yet, in our own best interests, and those of our lamb-chop dinners, it must be curbed. Even defining ''dingo'' is an emotive miasma. Purists, including most conservation groups, would protect only the broad-faced, yellow-coated central desert animals and shoot the rest - the black, the brindled - citing genetic ''purity''. Dingo scientist Brad Purcell argues, however, that the ''pure'' dingo is a human construct. It's a single species (Canus lupus, just like the wolf and your teacup poodle) with a natural genetic spread. This spread, as in any species, is a good thing. I recently spent a couple of days with Purcell, tracking the Wolf Lady from Wyoming. She's not called the Wolf Lady. She's called Suzanne Stone, and for 25 years she has worked to reintroduce the endangered grey wolf into the Northern Rockies, across national parks (including Yellowstone) and ranch country through Idaho, Wyoming, Montana. There are now about 2000 wolves in those states. There are also 4000 mountain lions, 20,000 black bears and 50,000 coyotes, but wolves take the blame for predation. So now, although legally protected since 1974, they are threatened with delisting. More....

Source: Standard.co.ukBy Justin Davenport The shocking scale of wildlife crime in London ranging from the trapping of songbirds to trading in illicit ivory is revealed in a new report today. A charity which works with the Met’s Wildlife Crime Unit has produced the first detailed picture of crimes against animals in the capital.The World Society for the Protection of Animals, which part funds the unit, says wildlife crime now ranks among trafficking in drugs, arms and humans in terms of profits. The global illegal wildlife trade is estimated to be £12 billion a year.In London, the charity says it has evidence of organised crime gangs smuggling endangered species into the UK while exotic animals are often rescued after being abandoned by owners.The Met’s wildlife crime unit has seized more than 30,000 items from endangered species since 1995 and deals daily with reports ranging from destruction of habitats to deliberate cruelty to animals.The WSPA study, entitled The Victims of Wildlife Crime, reveals crimes in London including: Small songbirds caught illegally for sale by leaving glue traps in gardens.Badgers being illegally shot, snared, poisoned, baited and their setts damaged in railway embankments and overland sections of the Tube. Foxes being shot at with airguns or deliberately poisoned.A haul of illegal ivory seized from a Portobello Road trader.The discovery of two West Africa dwarf crocodiles in cramped tanks in a flat in Croydon. More....

Source: Mnn.comBy Laura Moss The Humane Society of the United States issued a consumer warning earlier this week, informing consumers that Kohl's was selling "faux-fur" handbags made with real fur. HSUS investigators tested several styles of Nicole Lee Fabiola handbags advertised as having "faux-fur trimming" and discovered that the so-called fake fur was actually rabbit fur. Consumers should be aware that animal fur is still being sold as 'faux' by major retailers," Pierre Grzybowski, research and enforcement manager for the Fur-Free Campaign of The HSUS, said in a news release. Selling animal fur as fake fur is a violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act and carries a civil penalty of up to $16,000 per violation. Mislabeling real fur — for example, claiming rabbit fur is mink fur — is nothing new. However, mislabeling real fur as faux is a relatively new development. It might not seem to make business sense, but the demand for faux fur has increased as more people aim to shop cruelty-free. As manufacturers try to meet this demand, products are often mislabeled.In 2008, the HSUS discovered several faux fur coats sold at Neiman Marcus were actually made with fur from raccoon dog, a canid native to East Asia (and pictured at right). Photo. The HSUS sued the retailer, and in 2010, Neiman Marcus paid a $25,000 penalty. That same year, Neiman Marcus and other retailers, including Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Saks Incorporated and Lord & Taylor, were also found to be selling mislabeled faux fur. A settlement agreement was reached after the HSUS filed a lawsuit for false advertising. Later in 2010, President Barack Obama signed The Truth in Fur Labeling Act into law, which closed a loophole that previously had allowed fur-trimmed garments to go unlabeled if the value of the fur was $150 or less. More....

Source: Biologicaldiversity.orgPress ReleaseThe Center for Biological Diversity and allies petitioned the Obama administration today to reform the federal wildlife-killing agency known as “Wildlife Services,” which kills nearly 1.5 million coyotes, bears, otters, foxes, birds and other animals each year without any requirement to disclose its activities to the public. The secretive killing — which includes aerial gunning, traps and exploding poison caps — has gone on for decades with little public oversight or rules requiring the use of the best available science or techniques to reduce the deaths of nontarget animals. Today’s petition was filed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees Wildlife Services. “Wildlife Services is an out-of-control, rogue agency that shoots, snares and poisons more than a million native animals every year, many unintentionally — including at least 13 endangered species,” said Amy Atwood, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity and the primary author of the petition. “Despite calls for reform by members of Congress, scientists and the public, Wildlife Services is still operating without the kind of legally binding regulations that ensure transparency and accountability to the taxpaying American public, creating a free-for-all that should have been ended decades ago.” The petition calls for the agency to:

Develop regulations to ensure use of the best science when determining whether action should be taken against animals;

Avoid killing nontarget animals, including endangered species;

Ensure ethical treatment of targeted animals and exhaustion of nonlethal means; and

Require release of reliable information to the public about the animals it kills.

A response to the petition is required by law; any decision is subject to review by the courts. “For far too long Wildlife Services has run roughshod over America’s wildlife,” said Camilla Fox, founder and executive director of Project Coyote. “We call on the USDA to clean house and bring Wildlife Services into the modern era of predator conservation and stewardship by adopting rules that justify their actions and that allow for public input and the integration of ethics, economics and science-based ecology.” Under various names, Wildlife Services has killed millions of animals since the early part of the 20th century, targeting native carnivores like coyotes and foxes, prairie dogs, birds and many other species at the behest of agribusiness interests. The agency contributed to the decline of gray wolves, Mexican wolves, black-footed ferrets, prairie dogs, and other species during the first half of the 1900s, and continues to impede their recovery today. More....

Source: Globalpost.comThe government will set strict standards for facilities that raise endangered wild animals so it can be implemented in the second half of 2014, the environment ministry said Tuesday. The ministry said the standards will be included in the enforcement ordinance to a revised law on the protection and management of wildlife, both set to go into effect together in July of next year. The move comes after a three-year-old Siberian male tiger attacked and seriously injured a zookeeper at the Seoul Zoo on the southern outskirts of the capital last week. Experts say the tiger appears to have been under stress after being temporarily moved to a pen for foxes, which is about half the size of its original 165-square-meter cage, pending a March renovation of the zoo. South Korea currently has no provisions on the size and installation of facilities for raising endangered animals. Along with the revision, the ministry said it will regularly monitor zoos raising endangered animals and order improvements if problems are found.

Source: Andrewdoyle.ieWicklow deer population needs to be brought to manageable levels through legal culling."The large numbers of deer in Wicklow has led to an increase in poaching as highlighted by the Gardaí this week. Just because we have too many deer in Wicklow, we cannot condone illegal activity for personal gain. Uncontrolled and unregulated shooting raises concerns on health and safety grounds quite apart from anything else. “It needs to be done in a managed sustainable way through a cull carried out by competent, registered persons who are working to a sustainable programme. “Poachers more often than not often target stags because of their higher value. However this approach will never manage to reduce the overall deer population in the county. “Wicklow is estimated to have the highest concentration of Sitka deer in Europe, having been introduced by Lord Powerscourt from Japan to his estate near Glencree in 1859. Since then it has thrived, some would say too well in the Wicklow uplands. “We need to find a balance so as farming, forestry and wild animals can co-exist. As things stand we do not have that balance. There are too many deer in Wicklow and they are unduly impacting on farming and forestry in the county. “All new forest plantations have to have deer fencing to prevent deer from eating the saplings and young trees. Deer exist in close contact with other animals such as badgers and foxes and can carry diseases such as TB in bovines. Wicklow has three times the national average for TB outbreak, the high numbers of deer in the county are partly responsible for this problem. As such they present a risk to grazing farm animals that they come in contact with. “The structure of land ownership in Wicklow is relatively unique in the Irish context. We have a mix of private farm and forestry land, Coillte owned forests and National Parks. Deer are an important resource in Wicklow and, if they are managed sustainably, they can be of significant benefit in economic, social and heritage terms. However, current deer population levels are unsustainably high and they are causing economic and ecological damage. There’s enough evidence gathered on deer to warrant a specific course of action for Wicklow.”

Source: Business-standard.comTwo elephants were electrocuted when they came in contact with a high power grid line in a government-owned garden of Assam Tea Corporation Limited in Jorhat district.

The elephants, a male and a female, came out of the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary and entered Sycotta Tea Estate at Mariani when the trunk of the male elephant touched the power grid line, Maraini Range Officer Dibakar Medhi said.

The jumbos regularly strayed into the adjacent tea estates and villages bordering the sanctuary in search of food and water.

The sanctuary, with an area of 20-48 sq km, is an ideal habitat for elephants, but over the last decade their population has gone up to over 40 which is forcing the animals to come out of the forest frequently.

The sanctuary is home to more than 291 species of birds, elephants, leopards, jungle cats, civet cats, mongoose, Chinese pangolins, Indian foxes, sambhar deer, barking deer and Malayan giant squirrels, besides gibbons.

Source: UPI.comBy Ananth BaligaThe latest IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which assessed 71,576 species, found that 21,286 are threatened with extinction, including the Okapi and the White-winged Flufftail.The Okapi, a national symbol in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is a close relative of the giraffe unique to the forests there. Poaching and habitat loss along with the presence of rebels and illegal miners has pushed the species one step away from extinction. It is now listed as Endangered.“Sadly, DRC has been caught up in civil conflict and ravaged by poverty for nearly two decades, leading to widespread degradation of Okapi habitat and hunting for its meat and skin. Supporting government efforts to tackle the civil conflict and extreme poverty in the region are critical to securing its survival,” said says Dr Noëlle Kümpel with the International Union for Conservation of Nature.The small and secretive White-winged Flufftail is also facing the risk of extinction. The bird, a native of Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, is dwindling in numbers due to destruction of its habitat and other factors including overgrazing by livestock, cutting of marsh vegetation and conversion of land for agriculture.But it wasn't all bad news. Two species of albatross, the leatherback turtle and the Island Fox native to California’s Channel Islands were showing signs of recovery.

Source: Kcet.orgBy Chris ClarkeEndangered species news hardly ever comes with happy endings. But on a popular tourist island off the California coast, a frankly endearing wildlife species has come back from the verge of extinction in the last decade with a little help from its friends. The Catalina island fox is one of six subspecies of Urocyon littoralis that inhabit the Channel Islands off the Southern California coast. Like many island species, island foxes are in trouble. Foxes on Santa Cruz, San Miguel, and Santa Rosa islands have been in decline since the 1990s, mainly due to predation by golden eagles. But it was an outbreak of distemper 15 years ago that nearly wiped out Catalina's foxes: a population of something like 1,300 foxes crashed to around 100 individuals. A strain of distemper usually found in raccoons had made it to Catalina somehow. Vaccines were ineffective: the distemper shots administered to pets would actually infect foxes with the highly contagious virus. Things looked bleak.Island foxes are smaller than their mainland gray fox cousins. The Catalina island fox, the largest of the six subspecies, is about the size of a small housecat. The foxes' varied diet consists of rodents and other small mammals, birds and eggs, shellfish, and lots of fruit. Listed as Threatened under the California Endangered Species Act since 1971, the Catalina island fox was listed by the feds as Endangered in 2004, along with its cousins on the three other islands where its populations had crashed. That listing came five years after the fox's numbers took a nosedive, in response to a suit by the Center for Biological Diversity and others. The virus can survive in mainland wildlife populations without killing entire species off, but that's because mainland animals are continually exposed to the disease and have evolved resistance. Stuck out on their island paradise twenty miles off Long Beach, Catalina island foxes have had no reason to evolve the ability to survive distemper. California's Channel Islands are unique evolutionary laboratories. More....

CAPS is delighted to report that, despite a government Select Committee making recommendations that any ban on the use of wild animals in circuses should be limited to protect just big cats and elephants, the Minister in charge of the proposed bill has vowed to continue with plans to ensure that all wild animals are spared a life of circus suffering.

The ill-conceived Select Committee report was published in July of this year and was met with strong criticism by animal protection advocates. The report suggested that animals such as raccoons, foxes, zebra and camels were of little concern and that only big cats and elephants should be covered by any ban. This was despite the fact that all policy discussions up until that point had explicitly referred to a ban on all wild animal species. Campaign groups were particularly critical of the EFRA committee’s recommendations given that, at the time the report was published, there were no big cats or elephants in English circuses. In effect, it would have meant that a ban introduced under these terms would have failed to remove a single animal from the big top. Since July, one circus has introduced a big cat performance to its show. The CAPS team and dedicated supporters immediately took action following the release of the report to ensure that the hard work to end the use of wild animals in circuses was not derailed at such a late stage. Many supporters took action by emailing the minister directly to ensure that he was made aware of the strong support for an outright ban. Said CAPS Director, Liz Tyson: “We have worked hard since the disappointing report from the EFRA committee to ensure that the message was delivered loud and clear to Government that any ban must protect all wild animals. We are delighted that this has been recognised and that the Government was not swayed by the ill-informed advice from the EFRA committee. We look forward to seeing the ban introduced as soon as possible”. More....

Trade Me has emerged an animal welfare champion, banning sales of electric shock dog collars and select furs. Furs sourced from overseas are no longer welcome on the website, in changes that kicked in this month. "We accept that there are some questionable practices in the global fur industry and we don't want to be a part of those negative outcomes," Jon Duffy, Trade Me head of trust and safety, said. It was already illegal to sell fur products in New Zealand sourced from an animal protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. However, any new item featuring fur sourced from an overseas source, such as fox, coyote, bear or cougar was now also banned from Trade Me. Animal products obtained from non-protected New Zealand domestic species that were obtained in a humane way could still be traded on the auction site, including possum, rabbit and ferret furs. Vintage furs could also still be bought and sold as long as they did not come from protected species, under the rationale that second-hand trade stemmed ongoing killing of animals, Mr Duffy said. Trade Me has also announced electronic dog collars and anti-bark shock devices will join furs on its "banned and restricted" list. More....

A new analysis by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) finds that the State Department’s review of the Keystone XL pipeline woefully underestimates the impacts it would have on some of America’s most endangered species, including whooping cranes, northern swift foxes, piping plovers, pallid sturgeon, American burying beetles and others. The study found that State Department failed to fully consider the impacts that oil spills, power lines, habitat destruction, construction disturbances and expanded tar sands development in Canada will have on at least 12 endangered animals and plants.

“This is yet another black eye in the Keystone XL debacle. The State Department has utterly failed in its duty to fully disclose—or to reduce—the impacts of this pipeline on some of the rarest animals and plants in this country,” said Noah Greenwald, CBD’s endangered species director. “If this pipeline is approved it will be a disaster for endangered species and other wildlife.” Under the Endangered Species Act, the State Department must ensure the Keystone XL pipeline does not jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species; it must disclose and mitigate any harm to endangered species before giving approval. To meet these requirements the State Department produced a biological assessment that purported to analyze impacts to all endangered species, but concluded that only the American burying beetle would be adversely affected by the pipeline. Based on a careful analysis of other species in the path of the pipeline and their habitat needs, CBD determined that contrary to State’s claim, at least 11 other endangered species will be in danger from the pipeline. More....

The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned in 2010 and 2011 for protection for three freshwater species, a fox, two birds and three other animals.According to a settlement reached Monday, the wildlife service will make a decision about whether to declare each species to be threatened or endangered.Under a 2010 agreement with the wildlife service, the center can seek fast-tracked decisions for 10 species each year.Monday's agreement includes the bridled darter, the Panama City crayfish, the Suwannee moccasin shell mussel, the eastern hellbender salamander, the Florida Keys mole skink, MacGillivray's seaside sparrow, boreal toad, the Sierra Nevada red fox and Bicknell's thrush.

The Marsican brown bear is on the brink of extinction. Despite authorities spending millions of Euros on its conservation, high human-caused mortality is menacing the survival of this distinct subspecies.

The Marsican brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus) is only found in the Italy's Central Apennines, less than 200 kilometers from Rome. The last reliable research carried out in 2011 by the University La Sapienza in Rome estimated a population of around 49 bears. Not surprisingly, the Marsican bear is at extremely high risk of extinction and is considered Critically Endangered on the Red List of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

The population was once distributed over a large area of the Apennines, but during the last two centuries Marsican bears were devastated by hunting. Now they mostly live in a core area limited to the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise (PNALM) and some surrounding territories. Experts believe that due to its "long-term isolation from the other brown bear population," the Marsican bear is "a unique evolutionary and conservation unit, based on genetic and morphological traits," according to a paper from 2008.

Researches stated that bear’s high mortality rate is unacceptable and remains the biggest obstacle to the survival of the population. Poachers and collisions with cars are the biggest killers of Marsican bears, though for half of the deaths we do not have a definite diagnosis.

During the period of 1971 to 2013, 93 bears died. In the 1980s bears were mostly killed by poachers; in the 1990s most bears died as result of car accidents; and from 2000 on most deaths have been caused by poisoning. Two bears, an adult female and a yearling male were poisoned in 2003; three—an adult female, an adult male, and a subadult male - were poisoned in 2007 together with five wolves and eighteen wild boars. No one was found guilty for these crimes. More....

Zimbabwe’s top Olympian Kirsty Coventry has partnered with the Tikki Hywood Trust as an ambassador for Africa’s relatively unknown species, such as the pangolin, bat-eared fox, and serval.

Known affectionately as “Zimbabwe’s Golden Girl“, Coventry says that as a swimmer from a small landlocked African country who seemingly came out of nowhere to win gold, silver and bronze Olympic medals, she can relate to being the “underdog”. “I know the amount of work it takes to get your voice heard and because of that I want to help the little guy, I want to help the ones that are often overlooked.” Lisa Hywood, founder of the Tikki Hywood Trust, told Annamiticus that when Coventry came out to the Trust to see the work that is being done, she became very interested in helping raise awareness about the unique African species which are often overlooked. “Kirsty is one of Zimbabwe’s iconic athletes who identifies with the underdog, having come from a similar position herself in her sporting career. When she learned about the Tikki Hywood Trust and the animals we were working with such as the pangolin, bat-eared fox and other such unknown animals, she was very interested to be able to bring some light to their plight.”Hywood added that when the Olympic medalist met “Naia” (which means “water sprite”), a young Cape clawless otter rescued by the Tikki Hywood Trust, she fell “totally in love”. Coventry’s first project with THT is to help rehabilitate Naia, who was found so badly injured that her hind legs were paralyzed. Fortunately, Naia is expected to make a full recovery. More....

Sometimes what’s cute and cuddly for some is a headache for others. For example, the importation of non-native species into Australia has severely impacted indigenous wildlife and communities that depend on the survival of the continent’s ecosystems. Yet in general, we all love bunnies, puppies and kittens – some of the most damaging non-native feral animals in Australia. Among non-native or “invasive” animals, which have flourished in Australia to the detriment of native wildlife are the cane toad, red fox, deer and camel. European rabbits have famously impacted the country’s wild vegetation. Common cats and dogs are also sources of major problems Dogs hunt just about anything, including lumbering koalas. They also interbreed with dingos, diluting the “purity” of the species. (While dingos were originally domesticated dogs from Asia, they have lived wild in Australia for thousands of years, and so are not exactly feral.) Domestic cats, on the other hand, are predators the likes of which native wildlife has never seen. In fact, cats have it so well in some parts of Australia they’re literally growing to enormous proportions. Feral cats found in the Northern Territory can weigh 12-15 kilos (26-33 pounds) and according to some reports even up to 20 kilos (45 pounds).Research manager Georgia Vallance is quoted in an ABC Rural report: "We’ve been noticing more feral cats here over the last few years, and when these cats are culled by the rangers they perform a gut analysis, and the amount of animals inside these cats is staggering. One that was culled had the remains of two sugar gliders, a velvet gecko, a bird and some insects… so that’s just one cat, over one day. So the project the rangers are now doing is to try and establish the population of cats, what their range is and what their behaviour is. There’s been some research that cats will gravitate towards recently burnt country because the hunting is easier, and if that’s the case we’ll have to adapt our management regime." More....

Officials in Chile say they're investigating the poisoning of at least 20 Andean condors that resulted in the death of two of the giant endangered birds.

The huge birds, with a wingspan of up to 10 feet, were found near the town of Los Andes, about 50 miles of Santiago, after witnesses told authorities of seeing the birds flying low and crashing into rocks, the BBC reported Tuesday. Once on the ground, they were unable to take off again and walked in an apparently dizzily manner, authorities said. In addition to the two birds that died, two dead foxes were found. Official says they believed the birds might have been affected by eating carcasses of poisoned cattle, fox or puma. "[The poisoning\ seems to have been caused by the ingestion of an ill animal or one that ate another being with some phosphorate compound," Pablo Vergera, the regional director of the Chilean Farming and Cattle Service, told a local newspaper. Phosphate compounds are found in herbicides and poisons used to kill animals considered to be pests. Eighteen of the poisoned condors were taken to a veterinary clinic where they were given an antidote and were said to be recovering.

“Some of you who have been to our show over the last few days may have noticed that we no longer have lions and tigers in the show,” Tom Duffy’s Circus owner David Duffy posted to Facebook on June 21, 2013.

“The family who owned our lions and tigers had to leave unexpectedly at the end of last week due to personal reasons,” Duffy continued. “We worked hard and replaced the lions and tigers for the rest of this year with 12 beautiful white wolf dogs, amazing parrots, and a comedy horse act.” The Irish Times reported that Duffy told media “the act had been replaced with 10 white Alsatians and huskies.” The “comedy horse act” reportedly features zebras, llamas, horses, ponies, and donkeys. “After 25 years of having tigers and lions on our show, last Sunday was the last time for them to perform with us,” Duffy confirmed to Radio Telefis Eireann. Acknowledging that “one wrong move can be fatal” around big cats, Duffy did not anticipate adding a big cat act from another source. In September 1995 a man reportedly broke into the Duffy’s Circus tiger trailer at 4:00 a.m. in Galway, tried to pet the tigers through a feeding slot in their cage, and lost both arms. Tigers and lions had been exhibited for the 137-year-old Duffy Circus since 1988 by Tomas Chipperfield and other members of the Chipperfield family. The Chipperfields are descended from James Chipperfield, who offered a dancing bear act at the Thomas Frost Fair on the frozen Thames River outside of London in 1683-1684.

Tomas Chipperfield was perhaps the last member of the family to receive feature billing in a traveling show. More....